On the 10th day of the state's budget impasse, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf visited a South Whitehall elementary school to drum up support for his $33.8 billion spending plan that would increase education funding and reduce local property taxes by raising a host of state taxes by a cumulative 16 percent.

"You need to make your voice heard," Wolf said Friday outside Cetronia Elementary. "The people of Pennsylvania want funding for education, and they support a common sense severance tax to pay for it."

About 110 miles away, some Republican lawmakers were at a York County school. They were explaining why they support a GOP-backed $30.1 billion budget, which Wolf has vetoed along with bills to sell the state liquor store system and change public pensions.

"It is time for the governor to start reading bills before vetoing them," Rep Stan Saylor, R-York, said in a statement. "The General Assembly sent him a budget bill that increases funding for our schools without the need for tax increases and forces state government to live within its means."

On Friday, prior to Wolf arriving at Cetronia Elementary School, he made a speech to the Pennsylvania American Legion convention at a downtown Harrisburg hotel.

Afterward, the governor told reporters he was willing to drop his stance on the need for higher income and sales taxes to raise education spending and end the years-long deficit.

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf at Cetronia School, South Whitehall Township

(DONNA FISHER / THE MORNING CALL)

But Republicans have to be willing to address the deficit issue honestly by not relying on "smoke and mirrors" of account transfers and delayed bills, Wolf said.

Wolf's comments came three days after Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said a key sticking point was Wolf's insistence on higher income and sales taxes. Corman did not rule out other kinds of tax increases, saying Republicans are open to helping Wolf meet his goals, within reason.

The board of Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education voted Thursday to raise in-state tuition by $240 to $7,060 for the two-semester 2015-16 school year. PASSHE said it had...

(Jacqueline Palochko)

At Cetronia, Wolf said he's compromised before and is willing to negotiate some more.

"I'm working as hard as I can," Wolf said. "I will continue to work with them to whatever extent they want to work with me. We do have to come to an agreement. This is my first budget, so I can't predict how long this is going to take. .. I want to talk."

On Friday, Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republican Caucus, said Wolf claims he wants to compromise but the partisan, campaign-style attacks coming from his administration say otherwise.

Miskin pointed to sign-carrying protesters who showed up Friday at the Republican lawmakers' speech at York County school. Miskin pointed to fliers, tied to the Democratic Governors Association, that were mailed to voters in GOP-leaning districts that criticize Republican lawmakers for not backing Wolf's budget.

"Everybody has a right to express their opinion," Miskin said. "What I find dramatically different … is that he is managing a political campaign from the office of governor."

Republicans, however, also are using campaign rhetoric in their criticism of Wolf. The House GOP caucus' email explaining Friday's York County meeting of lawmakers carried the subject line: "York County House Republicans blast governor for budget delay, continued pursuit of tax increase."

Outside organizations also are trying to sway public opinion. A PAC tied to the Democratic Governors Association has also started running online and television ads in support of Wolf's budget. But a PAC funded in part by wealthy state Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York, also has been running ads attacking Wolf. The gas industry also has run television ads critical of Wolf's plan to tax Marcellus Shale gas drillers.

At Cetronia, Wolf said Republicans' claims that he's been unreasonable are wrong, saying media have reported how he has been willing to compromise on aspects of his budget. Meanwhile, Wolf said he will continue touring schools to persuade the public to support him.

"My bosses are all of you," Wolf said. "I need to talk to my bosses."

Republicans have a right to criticize Wolf's stump speeches concerning the budget, and Wolf has a right to keep making them, said Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College political science professor and pollster.

"It's fair for Republicans to charge him with being in campaign mode but it's also fair for the governor to reach out to the public to support his position," Borick said. "A governor needs to have the will of the electorate behind them if they are going to leverage deals with the Legislature."

Without public support governors run the risk of not winning a second term as evidenced by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's loss to Wolf in November.

"Gov. Corbett did himself a disservice by not cultivating broader relationship with the public for a lot of his initiatives," Borick said. "Successful governors, successful mayors, successful presidents are very attuned to those efforts of cultivating public opinion."

The trick, Borick said, is for executive officers to know when to turn off the campaign mode behind closed doors to reach a compromise with the legislative branch.